This is the first in a series on composition. Since the time of the Greeks, artists and scientists alike have tried to quantify what makes good design or composition. The Greeks came up the "golden rule" which is very close to what we now know as "the rule of thirds.
" Early this century German and Austrian psychologists pursued a similar quest through the school of thought known as Gestalt, a German word meaning "shape.
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Gestalt Principles: How Are Your Designs Perceived?
When your first impression of a design is positive, when you instinctively see the design as being good, it’s likely because one or more Gestalt principles of perception are at play.

When you look at a design and admire one or two of it’s parts, it’s likely because those parts are adhering to one or more Gestalt principles. One of the best things you can do as a designer is to learn these principles and understand what they tell us about how people perceive visual objects and the arrangements of visual objects. Understanding gestalt principles will give you greater control over your designs, create more harmonious designs, and increase the likelihood that your message is communicated to your audience. What is Gestalt? When human beings look at a painting or a web page or any complex combination of elements, we see the whole before we see the individual parts that make up that whole.
Photo Cascadia Blog. By Zack Schnepf In the Field Composition Workflow Part 1 – Simplification Having a workflow, both in the field and for post processing is extremely helpful just as having a road map if you get lost is extremely helpful.

That’s what a good workflow is for me, a road map. If I’m struggling to find a good composition, I fall back on my workflow to help get back on track and give me ideas.
Photo Cascadia Blog. By Zack Schnepf In the Field Composition Workflow Part 2 – Landscape Photography Workflow Recently, on the Photo Cascadia blog; Erin Babnik posted a really excellent article about compositional patterns to look for in nature, I thought it was one of the best articles on the PC blog in a while.

Here is a link to her article: I wanted to continue with the theme of composition. In part one I’ll talk about how I simplify my field technique to allow me to focus on composition in the field. Master the technical functions of your camera. Shoot using the manual settings on your camera. Shoot manual focus and use the focus markings on your lenses.
How to Solve 5 Composition Conundrums Faced by Landscape Photographers. 2-for-1 special As part of Landscape Photography Week here on dPS, we’re offering TWO for the price of ONE on our best-selling Living & Loving Landscape Photography ebooks!

Click here to take advantage of this offer. Do you ever get frustrated when reviewing your landscape shots? In the field you thought you’d nailed the scene, but back at your computer you now see that things don’t look so great. I know sometimes my frustration seems endless after a landscape shoot. Landscapes are both one of the easiest things to photograph, and the most difficult. It is these details that create conundrums for photographers, especially when it comes to composing a great landscape shot.

9 Composition Techniques to Use to Improve Your Photography. 7 Tips for Using the Gestalt Theory for Better Composition. Andrew’s newest ebook Mastering Composition is now on special for a limited time only at Snapndeals.

Gestalt theory evolved in the 1920’s to explain some of the ways in which people perceive the world around them. The basic idea is that, when faced with a visually chaotic scene, the human mind simplifies it into more recognizable patterns and shapes. Gestalt theory provides an insight into the pattern recognition process that occurs when people look at photographs. Once you understand the principles of gestalt theory, you can use them to improve the composition of your photos. These are some of the useful aspects of the gestalt theory. 1.

A pair or group of objects that are close to each other are more likely to be perceived as belonging together than if they are far apart.
Construction of a Photograph: The Process of Visualization. Hello, my name is Rick Keller.

I am an amateur photographer who lives in San Diego, CA, one of many readers of Photography Life, and an occasional participant in its forums. Recently, after having participated in the Photography Life Photo Critique forum and Weekly Critique Section, Nasim Mansurov graciously and enthusiastically extended me an invitation to write a guest article for Photography Life to share more of my film work and discuss the tools and methodology that I use. I wholeheartedly accepted the invitation.
Construction of a Photograph: The Process of Visualization. 12 Expert Tips For Photographing Cityscapes At Night. Jimmy Mcintyre is a travel photographer and educator.

His photos have been published in local and national magazines, including the BBC. His online courses on digital blending and post-processing can be found in his official website. In this tutorial, Jimmy shares his expert tips on photographing cityscapes at night and during golden hour. by Jimmy McIntyre It was the fifth time that we climbed this hill at 4 a.m. Yet, our faith and persistence were rewarded as the faintest orange glow began to creep through the clouds. And I was reminded how much I love shooting cityscapes.
Art of Composition in Photography- Tips and Examples.

Guest Article By : Siddharthan Raman The difference between a Snapshot and Greatshot is a composition.

The way the photographer view the subject is very different. Siddharth talking about Art of Composition in Photography. Please check the below points with examples.
The Basics Of Luminosity Masks In Digital Blending. Jimmy McIntyre is travel photographer.

10 rules of photo composition (and why they work)
In photography, it’s not just what you shoot that counts – the way that you shoot it is crucial, too.
Art of Composition in Photography- Tips and Examples. Camera composition tips: 1 subject, 6 ways to shoot it. Using different viewpoints and lenses can dramatically alter the look of your photographs. In this tutorial we’ll share some of our best in-camera composition tips and show you how to take one subject and shoot it six different ways for varying effects.

Framing your shots isn’t just about using the rules of photo composition such as leading lines, the rule of thirds or including foreground interest. Simply changing position and experimenting with different focal length lenses are two of the best ways that you can get new and more interesting shots. We all fall into the habit of using similar viewpoints when shooting, so here’s an exercise that will help you break this habit and take more successful photos.

Find a simple, static subject such as a building, photograph it from the first viewpoint that you find, then find six more viewpoints and compositions.
10 rules of photo composition (and why they work)
How to compose a photograph: see images where you never saw them before. Download the panels from our ‘How to compose a photograph’ cheat sheet For those who wish to print out our cheat sheet on How to compose a photograph… we’ve tried to make it a bit easier for you. Below you’ll find each individual panel from the cheat sheet. We’ve resized each panel to fit onto a standard A4 piece of paper (US readers might need to reduce it slightly further).
55 reasons your photos aren't working (and what you can do about it)
How to See in Black and White [and how HDR can be a Powerful Tool for the Monochrome Photographer]

The very first photographs were shot in black and white. Decades later, even after the advent of color, many photographers—especially those concerned with creating works of art—continued to shoot in black and white. The format remains popular even today: nearly every consumer-level digital camera has a black and white mode available (for outputting JPEGs directly from the camera in monochrome), and all digital darkroom editing suites have at least one (and usually multiple) means of changing a color photograph to black and white.

Introduction to Digital Black & White Photography » Krishna Mohan Photography. The Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi We see colour photos very differently from black and white photos, because we don’t actually see the world in black, white, and shades of grey. In colour, we’re looking at and discerning things in a scene based on the actual colours we perceive. Colour helps us to differentiate one pictorial elements from another.
Introduction to Digital Black & White Photography » Krishna Mohan Photography. More on Composition (In the Eye of the Viewer)
Written by: Digital Photography. Construction of a Photograph: The Process of Visualization.